Shuttle's Final Frontier

Jun 09, 04:17 PM

Current Headlines: By Kurt Loft, Tampa Tribune, Fla.

Jun. 9--CAPE CANAVERAL -- Friday's launch of Atlantis will be known as the beginning of the final chapter of the shuttle era.

After 118 missions, 15 remain. All are dedicated to completing the $100 billion International Space Station, after which the workhorse flying machines that made it happen will retire.

Atlantis roared off the pad at 7:38 p.m, its plume visible in Tampa, roughly 150 miles away. The shock wave across Kennedy Space Center was almost deafening as the shuttle belched 7 million pounds of thrust and rode upward on two 700-foot pillars of flame. The orbiter's three main engines produced the energy equivalent of a dozen Hoover Dams.

As Atlantis slipped into orbit eight minutes later, NASA officials expressed relief the shuttle was flying again after a six-month hiatus. The mission was planned for March, but a freak hailstorm in late February damaged the giant fuel tank, forcing a rollback to the garage. Technicians had to fix many of more than 2,000 dings and divots.

The brief launch window put the craft on a precise trajectory to meet the station and to save fuel in orbit.

Making its 28th flight, Atlantis began what the agency hopes will be the first of four missions scheduled this year. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration must fly an average of five flights a year during the next three years to finish building the station.

If that schedule can't be met, NASA may have to settle for a smaller orbiting outpost than originally planned. The shuttle program, begun in 1981, is scheduled to end in 2010.

Next week, the crew will install a set of solar panels to the starboard side of the station, complementing a pair connected to the port side in September. Astronauts then will unfold the 240-foot panels to track the sun and generate power for the station. The biggest piece of hardware is a 17-ton truss that will form part of the station's rigid backbone. They also are set to fold the second half of a problematic older solar array.

With school out and a Friday night launch, tens of thousands of people packed the perimeter of the compound. NASA also flexed its security muscles: Earlier in the day, Air National Guard units flew F-15s and F-16s overhead, and heavily armed military units stood their ground at all checkpoints.

Onboard Atlantis are commander Rick Sturckow, pilot Lee Archambault, flight engineer Clayton Anderson, and mission specialists Patrick Forrester, James Reilly, Steven Swanson and John Olivas. Anderson will stay aboard the space station, and Atlantis will bring home astronaut Sunita Williams, who has lived on the station since December.

If the mission goes as planned, Atlantis will glide home June 19 to the Kennedy Space Center landing strip. Endeavor is scheduled for the next mission Aug. 9.

Reporter Kurt Loft can be reached at (813) 259-7570 or kloft@tampatrib.com.

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